The Yellow Wallpaper
About this audiobook
“There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will.”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s haunting chronicle of crippling depression, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” is a cornerstone of weird fiction. First published in 1892, it has now been given an unsettling yet empathetic treatment courtesy of Robert Hunter (original score) and Linda Jones (narration) who skillfully brings the listener into the tale’s interiority and demonstrates its timelessness.
Weaving sound into patterns that gradually reveal themselves like those lurking in the titular wall covering, Hunter’s score pairs with Jones’s graceful delivery to masterfully guide the listener through the nameless narrator’s insular world. The listener is invited to examine the wallpaper, first with revulsion, then with inquisitiveness, and finally concern until the time arrives to find out what lurks within—or behind—the hideous wallpaper. The listener experiences the oppressive weight of an ever-shrinking world with its attendant lack of stimuli, and obsessiveness offering the only escape.
About the author
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935) gained much of her fame with lectures on women’s issues, ethics, labor, human rights, and social reform. She often referred to these themes in her fiction. She is best remembered for her 1892 short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” based on her own bout with severe postpartum depression and misguided medical treatment.
Linda Jones is an award-winning narrator and NYC actor with a penchant for dark edges and curious truths. Weaned on du Maurier and Hitchcock, Kafka and Poe-tales of mystery, adventure, and intrigue spawned a decades-long career with writers in new work, development, and narration. She has narrated for Penguin Random House, Recorded Books, Audible Studios, and Dreamscape, as well as a variety of independent authors and publishers. She has a BFA from Ithaca College. She lives in Brooklyn with writer John C. Foster and their dog, Coraline, in an apartment filled-to-bursting, floor-to-ceiling, corner-to-absolute-corner with books.
